The best way to prepare ham

"Ham" simply means the hind leg of a pig. Usually, the term refers to a cured hind leg. To cure, in culinary terms, is to preserve, and there are two major ways of preserving ham, with salt or smoke.

Wet- vs. dry-cured hams: Dry-cured hams are preserved by coating them with salt and aging them until the meat dries out. Think prosciutto from Italy and serrano from Spain that take well over a year.

Sometimes dry-cured hams are also smoked, such as American country hams (e.g., Smithfield, Va.). They must be exhaustively soaked and then boiled.

Wet-cured hams used to be soaked in brine (salt water), but today they are commonly injected with brine, which speeds up the cure. The classic American ham, like you'll find at Penn Dutch, is wet-cured and then smoked.

Whole vs. halves: Whole hams are actually less common than halves. At the market you will see shank halves (from the hoof end) and butt halves (no explanation necessary). The butt has more meat, but it also contains a bone structure that's tricky to carve around. A semi-boneless ham will be easier to carve. The easiest ham to carve is the spiral-cut ham, which has been pre-sliced.

Read the label: A product labeled, simply, "ham" derives at least 20.5 percent of its weight from meat. But beware, some manufacturers pump their hams with water - a cheap way to get them to weigh more. The FDA is on to this and mandates the following labeling standards: "Ham with natural juices" contains at least 18.5 percent meat by weight; "ham water added" contains at least 17 percent meat by weight; "ham and water product" is anything that contains less than 17 percent meat by weight, and the label also must note how much of that weight is water.

Cooking a cured ham: Most cured supermarket hams are cooked and need only to be heated through; this will still take a couple of hours.

Supermarket hams tend to come with cooking instructions, but here's all there is to it: Put the ham in a roasting pan (if it's a half ham, place it cut-side down). Bake in a 325-degree oven anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, about 10 minutes per pound. When an instant-read thermometer stuck into the thickest part of the ham reads 135 to 140 degrees, take it out and let it rest at least 30 minutes. If glazing the ham, do so about 20 minutes before you take it out of the oven.